Rise of Tanzanian CEOs in the banking industry
Dar es Salaam. Gone are the days when expatriates occupied most of chief executive officer (CEO) posts in commercial banks as locals are aggressively honing their banking skills to get an increasing share of the pie: plum positions.
Data collected by The Citizen shows that the number of Tanzanian CEOs in commercial banks is on the rise, while that of expatriates is on the decrease.
This, analysts say, reflects the fact that the number of competent Tanzanians to fill such positions has been on the rise as the country fosters its financial and banking training programmes to meet the requirements for such challenging posts.
Bank of Tanzania (BoT) figures put the current total number of commercial banks and banking institutions in the country at 52, a drop from 56 as of December 2015.
Of the current number however, 31 banks - equivalent to 60 percent of the total number of lenders - are headed by Tanzanians.
“This reflects that the number of locally-grown banking professionals is on the rise - and, thus, reduces the need to hire from overseas. But, it also protects employment for locals,” the acting director for Financial Sector Supervision at the BoT, Mr Nassor Omar, told The Citizen.
In December 2015, 30 out of 56 banking institutions in Tanzania were headed by foreign CEOs, leaving their local counterparts with only 26 positions.
This meant that expatriates accounted for 54 per cent of the total number of CEOs in the banking sub-sector in 2015.
Bankers say the rise in the number of local CEOs in the banking industry was good for the market - and that it was an indication that Tanzania was heading for a situation that’s similar to other well-performing economies like that of neighbouring Kenya.
“It’s a good development. Most top banks in Kenya, for instance, are managed by locals - and it makes sense,” said the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank managing director, Japhet Justine. Under normal circumstances, he said, locals were better-placed to understand the needs and requirements of the local market than their expatriate counterparts.
“There is power in integrating locals in making decisions that also offer room for more mentorship for upcoming CEOs,” he said, narrating how his bank was working with seven other lenders, including the CRDB and NMB Banks, on a number of products such as grant schemes for agriculture that were purely designed to cater to the needs of small-scale farmers.
Tanzania Bankers Association (TBA) chairman Abdulmajid Nsekela shared similar sentiments: “As TBA, this should make us proud. It simply means that management of the sector has strong trust in talented Tanzanians. It also shows that the industry is getting stronger as the number of experts is increasing,” said Mr Nsekela, who doubles as the CRDB Bank CEO.
He asked fellow local CEOs to avoid the allure of resting on the laurels that have been achieved so far.
For TPB Bank managing director Sabasaba Moshingi, DCB Commercial Bank chief executive Godfrey Ndalahwa and Azania Bank managing director Charles Itembe, over two decades since the banking sub-sector was liberalised, it was an open secret that the number of locals who would have mastered the trade was on the rise.
“This is a good thing for our country, and the economy in particular. I am confident that the number of Tanzanians filling key positions in the financial sector will keep rising going forward,” said Mr Moshingi.
And Mr Ndalahwa said: “It is a good development. Locals understand their country’s environment better - and, therefore, they can provide all the necessary assistance to their customers”.
And Mr Itembe said: “After liberalisation of the financial sector over two decades ago, we have learnt from the failures and successes of expatriates. We have seen the challenges and tried out experienced local CEOs in the industry who are familiar with the business environment and associated risks.”
Few women CEOs
While celebrating the rise in the number of local CEOs, a major remaining concern is that the number of women CEOs was still too small.
TBA had a total of 43 members in 2015. Out of the number however, only four banks were under women CEOs.
On the contrary, while the number of TBA members had risen to 44 in 2019, the number of women CEOs dropped to three!
These headed Ecobank Tanzania, NIC Bank and NMB Bank.
Ms Mwanahiba Mohammed was appointed managing director for Ecobank Tanzania with effect from July 7th, 2017 to become the first woman to lead the lender.
Speaking to The Citizen, she said her rising to that position was due to the fact that, when it comes to the workplace, she regards herself as being equal to everybody else who holds similar qualifications and experience as she has.
“When it comes to work, I do not put my gender first. I always regard myself as equal to my colleagues. Competency, knowledge and integrity are key to my work - and I continue to sharpen them every day,” she explained.
Having been in the banking industry for 41 years, the Uchumi Commercial Bank (UCB) managing director, Ms Angela Moshi, said the performance of a CEO was an outcome of his/her management team.
The position also requires a person who is calm and honest.
“Dealing with money requires one to be calm and God-fearing. For a woman to lead a bank successfully, one needs a strong management team. Routine follow-ups on a number of projects are also key,” she said.
Other women CEOs in the banking business are: Ms Margaret Karume, who was appointed to head the NIC Bank-Tanzania Limited with effect from January 31, 2019, armed with 25 years of experience in the industry.
NMB Bank, which has been the most profitable bank in the country for a long time, was under a woman CEO, Ms Ineke Bussemaker, a Dutch whose tenure expired earlier this year.
The bank’s acting CEO is also a woman, a Tanzanian by the name of Ruth Zaipuna.
